TEMPE, Ariz. – Arizona State University football student-athlete D.J. Foster has been named a preseason candidate for the 2014 Doak Walker Award, the PwC SMU Athletic Forum announced Thursday.

The Doak Walker Award is presented annually to the nation’s top college running back.

This is the second consecutive season Foster has been selected as a preseason candidate for the Walker Award and he is one of only three FBS student-athletes in the nation named to the watch list for the Walker, Maxwell and Hornung awards, joining senior Ameer Abdullah from Nebraska and sophomore James Conner from Pittsburgh.

Foster, a local product from Saguaro High School in Scottsdale, Ariz., earned 2013 Honorable Mention All-Pac-12 recognition in 2013 and Freshman All-America honors in 2012. He has collected more than 1,000 all-purpose yards in both seasons at ASU, including 1,170 as a sophomore and 1,026 as a freshman, and has 1,186 career receiving yards, 994 career rushing yards and 16 career touchdowns.

He had 63 receptions in 2013 and was the only running back in the country to rank in the top 100 nationally in receptions. He racked up 124 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries in ASU’s 58-21 victory over Arizona en route to garnering Bob Moran MVP honors in the 2013 Territorial Cup.

ASU opens its campaign toward the Pac-12 Championship on Aug. 28 at Sun Devil Stadium against Weber State and the remaining home schedule includes UCLA on Sept. 25, a rematch with Stanford on Oct. 18 and a non-conference game with Notre Dame on Nov. 8.

In addition to guaranteeing the same seat for all 2014 home games, becoming a Sun Devil Football Season Ticket Holder is the only way to guarantee tickets to the Notre Dame game on Nov. 8, 2014, at Sun Devil Stadium.

About the Walker Award

The PwC SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors will name the semifinalists on Nov. 18, and the Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee will cast votes to determine the finalists, who will be announced on Nov. 24. The committee will cast a second vote beginning on Dec. 1 to determine the recipient. The National Selection Committee consists of former NFL All-Pro and college All-America running backs, media members and selected special representatives.

The recipient of the 2014 Doak Walker Award will be announced live on The Home Depot College Football Awards on Thursday, Dec. 11, on ESPN. The Doak Walker Award Presentation Banquet will be held in Dallas, Texas, in February 2015.

The award, in its 25th year, is named for SMU’s three-time All-America running back Doak Walker. It is the only major collegiate award that requires all candidates to be in good academic standing and on schedule to graduate within one year of other students of the same classification.